This Isn't An Issue Of Islam Versus Secularism
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By Robert Fisk
The Independent
Feb 5, 2006
http://news.independent.co.uk

In Denmark, Fleming Rose, the "culture" editor of the pip-squeak newspaper which published these silly cartoons last September, for heavens sakes announces that we are witnessing a"clash of civilisations" between secular western democracies and Islamic societies.

So let's start off with the Department of Home Truths. This is not an issue of secularism versus Islam.

For Muslims, the Prophet is a man who received divine words from God. We see our Propehts as faintly historical figures, at odds with our high-tech human rights, almost caricatures of themselves.

The fact is Muslims live their religion. We do not. They have kept their faith through innumerable historical vicissitudes. We have lost our faith ever since Matthew Arnold wrote about the sea's "long, withdrawing roar."

That's why we talk about "the west versus Islam" rather that "Christians versus Islam."

Because there aren't an awful lot of Christians left in Europe. There is no way we can get round this by setting up all the other world religions and asking why we are not allowed to make fun of Mohamed.

Besides, we can exercise our own hypocrisy over religious feelings.

I happen to remember how, more than a decade ago, a film called "The Last Temptation Of Christ" showed Jesus making love to a woman. In Paris, someone set fire to the cinema showing the movie, killing a young man.

I also happen to remember a U.S. University which invited me to give a lecture three years ago, I did. It was entitled "September 11, 2001: ask who did it, but for God's sake, don't ask why."

When I arrived, I found that the University had deleted the phrase "for God's sake"
because "we didn't want to offend certain sensibilities."

Ah-ha, so we have "sensibilities" too.

In other words, while we claim that Muslims must be good secularists when it comes to free speech--or cheap cartoons--we can worry about adherents to our own precious religion Just as much.

I also enjoyed the pompous claims of European statesman that they cannot control free speech or newspapers. This is also nonsense.

Had that cartoon of the Prophet shown instead a chief Rabbi with a bomb-shaped hat,
we would have had "anti-semitism" screamed into our ears--and rightly so--Just as we often hear the Israelis complain about anti-semitic cartoons in Egyptian papers.

Furthermore, in some European nations--France is one, Germany and Austria are among the others--it is forbidden by law to deny acts of genocide.

In France, for example, it is illegal to say the Jewish holocaust or the Armenian holocaust did not happen. So it is in fact, impermissible to make certain statements in European nations.

We can hardly exercise our political restraints to prevent holocaust deniers and then start screaming about secularism when we find that Muslims object to our provocative and insulting image of the Prophet.

And this is not a great time to heat up the old Samuel Huntingdon garbage about a
"clash of civilisations."

Iran now has a clerical government again. So, to all intents and purposes, does Iraq
(which was not supposed to end up with a democratically elected clerical administration, but that's what happens when you topple dictators).

In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood won 20 per cent of the seats in the recent parliamentary elections. Now we have Hamas in charge of "Palestine."

There is a message here, isn't there?

That America's policies--"regime change" in the Middle East-- are not achieving their ends.
These millions of voters were preferring Islam to the corrupt regimes which we imposed on them.

For the Danish cartoon to be dumped on top of this fire is dangerous indeed.